illustrated journal

Archive for November, 2009

Lately I have been looking for new activities and ended up finding way too many. A couple of weeks ago I wondered if I should take up Japanese again, although I haven’t studied it seriously for over a year. Last week I went to a nunchaku class on Monday and a yoga class on Tuesday. Today I went horse riding after almost ten years of absence which, inevitably, made me regret giving it up. I may try a meditation class on Wednesday. I’m also considering buying snowshoes this winter to go on long walks. And it’s been years since my last guitar lesson, I’m forgetting what I used to know. Anything else? Oh yeah, I also have to work, plan to do a PhD, and love to take some lazy time out whenever possible… All of these activities feel great but each lacks something which another one could bring – and this is how 25 years have gone by already.

Last spring, I became so enthusiastic about this fabric-and-plastic device that I persuaded some of my housemates to make a group order from the United States. One of them even chose the eco-print, which is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen – and I am attracted to ridiculous things. The concept is (brace yourself) to have a re-usable, washable sandwich wrapper which, by a simple yet ingenious process, doubles as a table mat once you open it. It does look slightly tacky, and your grandmother could easily make one for you, but my own Wrap-N-Mat unexpectedly became an essential commodity when I started to work in an office and was, at first, completely broke. It’s actually nice to take your own sandwich to work without sprinkling crumbs all over the place. The only condition for it to become your new green friend is not to be too hungry. Or else, just buy several.